Federal Transit Administration awards $460 million to state CNG bus projects

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded more than $460 million in funding to CNG bus transit projects in several states. That’s nearly a quarter of the $2 billion allocated to the FTA’s Low- and No-Emission Grant Award and Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities competitive programs for FY 2025.

According to the FTA, the total $2 billion package, which includes $518 million in FY 2026 advanced appropriations, will be spread across 165 transit projects, purchase 2,400 U.S.-built buses, and “create good-paying jobs in both rural and urban communities across the country.”

The $460 million in grant money will go towards new CNG buses and fueling infrastructure, along with improvements to maintenance facilities. The top five states were:

• Texas: $121.57 million (with Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County getting $100 million)
• California: $106.4 million (Sacramento Regional Transit District will receive almost $40 million)
• New York: $63.25 million ($42 million goes to Nassau County Inter County Express)
• Florida: $40.84 million (Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) in Tampa, FL will receive $32.04 million)
• Ohio: $29.65 million (Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) in Columbus, OH will receive $19.91 million)

The total list of awards can be found on FTA’s official site.

What the funding is for

The overall goal is to modernize the nation’s mass public transportation network.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy stated: “With these grants, thousands of new buses will hit the road and infrastructure will be upgraded—making public transit more efficient, affordable and safe for American families."

A key benefit is removing older buses that have higher emissions output, while taking advantage of CNG/RNG operating costs. For example, these vehicles don’t have an aftertreatment system, so maintenance is simplified and less costly. In general, fleets investing in equipment powered by renewable natural gas—the bio version of CNG that can be created at landfills and dairy farms by capturing and purifying methane gas—get more bang for their buck than those adopting battery-electric counterparts.

According to The Transport Project, a group of 200 fleets, manufacturers, suppliers, and other transportation stakeholders, an investment of $100 million would pay for 433 natural gas trucks, versus 239 battery-electric trucks. And because RNG has a net-negative environmental impact because it is recycling methane, a RNG truck reduces greenhouse gas emissions six times better than BEVs, and twice the NOx reduction impact.